My prediction: Reddit just pushes these changes through maybe with a non-apology.
There's no obvious alternative to reddit.
Regardless, I’m pointing out what is the current alternative.
If subreddits move, reddit's front page won't avail them much.
I have several hundred subreddits, that would take me forever on discord.
Less time on the internet. Social media seems to be dying and changing isnt it?
Ex: I have a product, it costs me $1 to make. I want to sell it for $10, so there's a nice profit margin. People will balk because they think it's worth $8, or once I announce any pricing they will protest and try to talk it down. So I announce it'll cost $100. That's exorbitant! Rage rage anger anger etc, then I'm like... does $10 sound reasonable? Oh wow you came down 90% that's really good sure I won't complain about that you are so good to us.
I wonder if Reddit tried this before with e.g. the previous content crackdown; they wanted to crack down to the point where the site would become ready for IPO (mainly get rid of porn), but they knew they'd suddenly lose two thirds of their engagement. They went for small steps then; remove hate subreddits (surely you cannot object to removing racism?? Oh right free speech), then remove porn from r/all, then remove porn from the API / 3rd party apps, before it gets removed entirely.
Another comparison: Trump. Put a far-right nutjob in the forefront, have him come out with some really racist and offensive shit every day, so that the more moderate but mainstream right-wingers get to put in a little racism.
Another stupid comparison: the Sonic movie. They did the first design badly on purpose, because it made people talk about and meme the Sonic movie for weeks on end. Then they did a redemption by changing the design to what they intended in the first place.
Whether we like it or not, most investor money is ultimately managed by rich old dudes who want to save face around their friends and family. Since the US is prudish as all get-out, they don't invest in porn directly through the stock market.
If you want to invest in porn privately, I'm sure those companies will take your money and you can work out a payment scheme and contracts without involving the S&P.
I expect what the average investor actually demands is restraint and keeping porn out peoples faces so it doesn't become what you're known for. Don't become a "porn company" and don't show porn to people that haven't opted in or to children.